First of all, statistics aren't a game Not all of the internet is about being a tough guy winner, and sometimes some of us are just trying to explain ourselves.

Secondly, I'm not giving you links because I like links, but because I like sources. Not all sources are equal. A blog post by a conservative think tank employee and right wing activist isn't as neutral as the CDC or the US Census. Nothing is 100% 'neutral', but numbers gathered by the Labor Department are a little more transparent than a blog post by Christina Hoff Sommers. Say what you will about her, but her agenda is always very clear.

Thirdly, can you clarify your point about illegal discrimination? I don't think anybody talked about illegal discrimination, just the actual wage gap. Illegal discrimination is not necessary to establish oppression - nobody is illegally preventing women from becoming president, but we still have a historic gender gap in the oval office. Things can be shitty and in need of change even if it nothing currently illegal is going on (like the pew research polling you linked to shows). Illiteracy, for example, is a shitty phenomenon for citizens and bad for democracy, but it's not illegal; the wage gap is bad for citizens and for democracy, even when it is not illegal.

Fourthly, if you are willing to accept that there's a pervasive and destructive culture of rape of women by men outside of prison, I will also concede that there's a pervasive and destructive culture of rape of men by men in prison. In fact, I'll go ahead and concede that anyway. Which is fucking awful, but doesn't mean that feminists are wrong for railing against the situation outside of prison. The are two different sectors of society, and the factors that create a rape culture in one sector do not apply so much in the other. Still awful though.

fifthly, you ended on some stuff which might just have been random thoughts, because I don't see how they fit in anywhere:

"[the existence of self-perpetuating unjust power structures] does not automatically equate to men getting a free ride" - was not said by me, ever. We should get rid of injustice even if not all men get a free ride, I think

"in fact i would posit that this obnoxious behavior works against the very thing they are trying to convey" - can be said about all sorts of uppity oppressed groups

"this woman has received death threats and threats of physical violence from other feminists!" - doesn't make her right, and it doesn't make her wrong, and it doesn't 'ruin' all of feminism.

"at the end of the day this is actually a human issue,and a valid one and we all have a right to our own opinion,but not a right to impose it upon another. feel free to disagree." ...nobody can disagree with this because it means nothing. It's a Hallmark card. I tried to give you actual facts and you countered with "we are all humans so everything is like, always a human issue and like, opinions, man."

You must have missed the part where he recapped what he loved/missed, and how he gave those things up for whatever reason he did (Such as peer pressure, societal judgment, poverty, anger, etc.) The fact that he didn't make excuses truly gives me respect for who the man is, but an indomitable will means not faltering and he did in the past. It was a mistake, and who hasn't made a mistake--even a grievous one? By comparing this great man to what he once was is an injustice to what he has become, and I wouldn't slap him in the face as that comparison ironically has.

Now, he could have had a great will, good will, worthwhile will, but the word indomitable is vastly different from those puny words. He could have tried his best and failed. But again, that is different than staying strong against the others rather than forfeiting the things you most love for the lifestyle that is incompatible and with those precious things.

After hearing more of the story, it is seeming more and more like this probably was a fishing expedition for 'racial and/or religious injustice'.
He was, reportedly, repeatedly asked by numerous teachers to put his clock away, as it would make some people nervous (and already had), instead he continued to take it to class after class until one teacher (in an English class, his 4th class?) insisted on an explanation about what he was showing around the class, and he steadfastly refused to give any at all.
He could not have intentionally made himself any more suspicious without putting a ski mask on, IMO. I hope all these offers dry up if it becomes more clear this was all intentional on the student's (parent's?) part. I sure don't want to see that kind of baiting behavior rewarded.

EDIT: As a side note, any clock with an alarm could actually be a bomb...or at least a trigger. My brother was suspended in the 80's for an altoids tin with a battery, mercury switch, and buzzer. When you picked it up it buzzed, and inside was a note saying "boom, this was a bomb, you just died"....he played 'gottcha' at the time (kind of a spy vs spy game played at schools back then, where you had an assignation target and someone else targeted you) and that was his best way of 'killing' his opponents. It was also proper to suspend him for bringing that totally safe device to school then, IMO.

Wait a second, there's no Meeting of Friends in this video, no protesting social injustice. I'd hardly call these people Quakers.

Because a whale is murdering its oppressors, which is ALWAYS fun and funny. I mean, I like British people but there's something about Mel Gibson murdering them in movies that just... that's also why we hate Mel Gibson, because he became the oppressor which we need to kill (socially). And now we are the oppressor.

If I saw a giant whale flying over my city, I would welcome it with dying arms. It's funny to know deep down inside that your own death, not out of self hatred or injustice, but out of a post-human sense of justice, could be absolutely hilarious.

Would the death of your civilization yield positive results?

Or at least laughs?

It did in this animation!!

Money is the root of all evil? Evil is the root of all things -- and it's funny to exist within the frames of constant existential doublethink!

Also, it's a cute whale, sort of like a Stay Puff of our current meme cycle -- which is over, because meme cycles are like 5 minutes or something.

So goes all specialist endeavors when society decides for better or worse that an area of expertise is no longer needed.

I'd rather be prepared for it and adapt quickly, than be featured in a documentary decrying the injustice of it all.

Hard to judge when you don't see what actually happened, but I enjoyed watching the "insane" man intimidate/escort the whiny skaters out of his neighborhood. Their first instinct is to, of course, whip out the phone and record the terrible injustice (pause to chuckle) being perpetrated against them.

Many (most?) dictionaries suggest that a belief of superiority is necessary for racism, not just noticing differences.

In the end, though, I don't think it's worth arguing too much about the vocabulary. Obviously I'm in the minority with this opinion. See:

1) The internet
2) People paying $40,000/year to define and discuss different forms of injustice at your local elite university

For my money, a little introspection and the golden rule goes a lot farther than labeling for every thought you have and everything you say.

@newtboy This goes back you your recent sift .

"Are We All Bigots?-Through The Wormhole-Morgan Freeman"
http://videosift.com/video/Are-We-All-Bigots-Through-The-Wormhole-Morgan-Freeman

Which indicated that white people and black people fear black males.

Its not a racist issue but a PR issue. The media has done a grave injustice to the young black man.

Another rant from the harbinger of doom. I believe his followers gain succour from his dystopian views because it gives them an excuse for the shortcomings in their own lives. OK, that's a bit strong, but the fact is, no matter what figures you want to analyze, never in history have humans been so fortunate both in health and general well being. Generally, each generation lives longer, is better cared for and enjoys a better quality of life than the last. Is it perfect? No. Will it ever be? Probably not. Do we care enough about our third world cousins? Again, probably not.
I never quite "get" what Chomsky's real problem is. Is it Multinationals? Media? Government? Corporations? It seems to be all of these, and a whole lot more. North Korea would be a good place for him to rail against evidential control, injustice and a true dystopian existence. Here we are allowed to take advantage of education, free thought and certain rights. In short, to make the best of things. I suggest he, and his followers, do the same. Moaning on, and on, and on about this awful, oppressive existence we suffer in the west, really gains no sympathy from people who live in places where they would love the chances Chomsky seems to take for granted.

From my point of view, your argument is asinine.
He (Lantern) made a definitive statement based on some witnesses and evidence by saying 'credible evidence' (which strongly implys that only the witness and evidence/interpretations that agreed with the police version is credible, and all others are not), I pointed out that far more witnesses had disputed that version of events, and the evidence is up for interpretation, not definitive.
You also discount (nearly) all local witnesses (and go on to insult them for no reason, or is it just racism that makes you label them 'low intelligence'?), then you try to make a point about group impressions using a group that absolutely DOES lie, in the performance of their duties they are TRAINED to lie to get information and/or compliance, and some are just natural liars to boot, and also a group that's historically well known as being incredibly over-defensive of their own, even when it's insanely obvious their own are in the wrong. I can't fathom how you think that makes a good point. (also not sure why you bring race into it again)

Another interpretation of the head shot evidence is that he was falling, having been shot multiple times already, and was shot in the top of the head on the way down. That was what more than one eye witness said happened. Are you implying that they were (low intelligence) criminalist masterminds that instantly knew what false story could still be born out by evidence, colluded, and gave that version? There was no gun shot residue on him, so he was not within arms length to grab anyone. That's fairly certain.

Yes, the DA certainly seemed to throw the case away. He did not act as prosecutor, (giving only evidence and interpretation that implies guilt,) but instead gave the jury all 'evidence' (including that which implied innocence, and allowed the jury to interpret it), allowed 'defense testimony' (without question, cross, or dispute), and gave insane legal instructions in order to confuse (like giving them the long invalidated law, then last minute telling them it might or might not apply, but don't worry why, it's not a law class). That's all totally abnormal, so the grand jury process was clearly abused by the DA with an aim to not get a trial. I'm fairly certain that's how most people see it too. It seemed fairly blatant.

I would agree that the more officers the better seems logical, but no longer holds true if ALL the officers over react (like 8 people on top of one man for an infraction, or never trying tasers because they 'might not stop the aggressor', even when there's already 10 officers with guns drawn). If officers tried the least amount of force required FIRST, rather than jump to the maximum allowed instantly, everyone would be happier. Sadly they do not.

If the feeling in the community (local and at large) was that this was an isolated incident, no amount of cajoling by a single distraught parent would cause rallies or riots. Instead they're happening across the country, and yet you blame a grieving father rather than the aggrieved's stated issue(s)/targets.

I'm glad that at least in the Garner case, you can see the injustice of killing an unarmed man (or even 'just' brutally attacking him) over such a minor infraction.

Reddit army will take care of this injustice.

aka, make me laugh

The age-old liberal retort. Let's complain about the injustice of something because it doesn't hold up to our "compassionate" and unbelievably myopic ideals.

Look folks... if a law exists that it's breaking, it's breaking the law. If you don't like it; rather, if the majoriy of the folks in the county of the city don't like it, they have the power to change it if they can get off their armchairs long enough to do something about it. The power of the people would initiate making it NOT against the law. So, start THERE. Don't just blindly whine (or whinge, for you in the UK) about it first.

Use the system to change the laws.

At what point will 'white privilege' be considered over? How many years / decades / centuries must pass? How many affirmative action programs / laws must be enacted to consider all races/ women on equal footing?
When sentencing certain individuals in our Canadian courts here, judges here are required to take their ancestry into consideration.
Here in Canada, there's also a big move afoot for governments to apologize for historical injustices -- Japanese, Chinese, Sikhs, natives, Jews, etc.
My problem is that we are looking at history through a modern lens which is crazy. How far back are we going to go? 50 years? 100 years? A millennia? Should Christians today should apologize for the Crusades?
PS. Before somebody accuses me of a hidden agenda, I have no axe to grind. I am part native but don't make a big deal of it. I certainly don't look at a white guy and think, "Hey that guy owes ME something because of what his great-great-great-grandfather did."
I think Bill is right... at some point people have to stop leaning on laws and affirmative action movements as a crutch/excuse and get on with working things out for themselves.

No lumping of racists was done.
I suggested that as a member of a group you can be complicit in racist attitudes (ever made a remark about asian's being good at math for example?)
It can be incredibly subtle, I'll admit I've done that sort of micro aggression shit before, I'm no angel.
As per my last response, if you are more upset by the phrase "white people often treat black people badly" because it implies that as a white person, you might often treat black people badly then I've got great news, you aren't a racist! But you do seem to care more about implicit, quite general remarks to your character than actual racial injustice, (ie: job discrimination and police brutality on the basis on skin colour) which might be food for thought.